Moulivakkam tower seminar

Moulivakkam Twin tower Collapse

1. MOULIVAKKAM TOWER COLLAPSE – CASE STUDY BY SARATH KUMAR M Meenakshi S undararajan Engineering College

2. OBJECTIVE This is the case study on 11 storey building collapse at moulivakkam, porur. One building collapsed on its own during construction. While the other one, semi built was demolished by imploding. Hope this study will enhance the correct reason for the collapse so that non-recurrence of such things in future can be made.

3. BUILDING DETAILS Builder – Prime sristi Housing Pvt, Ltd. The project consist of two towers The Faith Tower The Belief Tower Location – Kundrathur road near porur junction (Moulivakkam) Faith – 2BHK (4) in each floor Belief – 3BHK (4) in each floor Price – 5250/ sq.ft

4. TIME OF OCCURRENCE Belief Tower Collapse took place in J une 28 @ 5.30 PM Faith Tower razed to the ground In three second In November 2 @ 6.50 PM

5. REASON FOR THE COLLAPSE Thunder Bolt Poor Quality of Construction Negligence of Soil Condition

6. BACKGROUND OF THE BUILDER Prime sristi housing Pvt, Ltd (Madurai) has nearly two decades of real estate development experience. Their Motto “Building should Stand apart and should reflect Engineering Marvel” Whereas the actual thing seems to be vice versa.

7. Contd., Manoharan (builder) and his 2 Engineer has been authentically verified. While the architect (Vijay Bargotra) was not registered with them as stated by the council of architecture, New Delhi. As per section 2 (a) 35,36&37 of a architects Act, 1972. “ Only a person registered as an architect with the council can call himself as an architect”. So Mr.Vijay Bargotra has been arrested along with manoharan .

8. ACTUAL REASON FOR THE COLLAPSE 1.The actual study at the site clearly showed that it was not due to lightning and poorness in construction in all aspects, that leads to Collapse. 2. Since porur lake is only at a stone throw distance from the collapsed building.

9. KEY ASPECTS Previous incidents also proved that whenever the lake was full & overflowing these areas were always inundated. Before applying for plan approval the first & foremost activity to have done is “Site Clearance” Whenever the nature of soil requires such action, the ground surface of the site to be erected shall be rendered damp proof to the satisfaction of the authority.

10. Contd., On considering all these circumstances it is a common question that would arises in everyone’s mind is “ How the permission was obtained at such a risky site totally unsuitable for high rise building” Other point made is that the quality of material used in the construction was not good.

11. TALE OF A DOOMED PROJECT June 2013 CMDA issued planning permission to Prime sristi Housing Pvt Ltd. June 28, 2014 Tower belief crumbles after a heavy downpour, Killing 61 construction workers.

12. Contd., July 3, 2014 State Govt constitutes a one main inquiry commission headed by juctice R Regupathy . August 2015 Commission report is in the Assembly. The report holds six persons responsible for the collapse. It also states that “hidden and underground transactions ” made b/w officials at various level.

13. Contd ., October 2015 Kancheepuram collector orders demolition of the second tower. Builder approaches high court seeking a stay. December 2015 Madras High court stays demolition May 2016 Supreme court upholds District Collector’s orders to demolish second tower of the complex. November 2, 2016 The second Tower brought down using Implosion Technique.

14. Second Tower Before Implosion

15. Implosion Technique Is In Process

16. Surrounding Area Covered By Dust

17. EXPERT POINT OF VIEW Expert says that the lack of geotechnical investigation and a focus only on deadlines are the major reasons for building collapse. He also says that the builder reduces the time taken for construction , for the purpose of reduction in cost. Geotechnical investigation and foundation engineering is perhaps, the weakest of the links. Expert- Aswath M U, Professor & HOD civil IIT Bangalore.

18. VIOLATION OF LAW The plan approved by CMDA has not been used for actual construction. The structural design given for the foundation is Raft & pile which is inadequate to bear the entire weight of basement + building weight. The column design are also inadequate to bear the dead weight of such heavy structure. The foundation was not designed as per the nature of the soil. The provision of anchorage, length to reinforcement and column ties are inadequate to cover the reinforcement.

19. Contd., The design and construction of the building in all aspects are in violation of national building code. The materials such as concrete, steel and bricks used for the construction were not properly tested. It also stated that the builder removed many columns in the CMDA approved plan at the basement level for the convenience to create more space for car parking.

20. STATEMENT MADE BY EXPERTS Dr. Devadas structural Engineering department – IIT Chennai. “ The applicant should obtain EIA Clearance and the same has to be produced at the time of completion certificate”. Dr. Devadas Faculty of Architecture - Anna university. “ The Collapse of the building is primarily due to gross deficiency in the structural design of the RC column”

21. Contd., 3. Dr. Muttharam Assistant Professor, Department of soil Mechanics – Anna university. “He states that the soil investigation was conducted thoroughly but the raft foundation is inadequate to carry the total load from the storied building”. 4. Dr. Umarani C Structural Engineering – Anna university. “She also states that the gross deficiency in the structural design of RC column is the major causes”.

22. CONCLUSION From the above, it is clearly evidenced that the right construction procedures were not followed for such high rise buildings. The materials right from bricks to sand were found to be not of proper quality. The soil test was not conducted in true sense. It is expected that for the plots, particularly near the lakes, soil test would be given prominent importance as they very foundation is involved. The hasty construction coupled with poor quality materials and people led to this deplorable collapse.

23. REFERENCE National Crime Records Bureau National building code of I ndia 2005 – point no.6 requirement of plots: clause 6.2 Damp sites and 6.3 surface water drains. The Hindu Chennai dated 3 rd N ovember 2016. 2014 Chennai building collapse from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Trust height porur by prime sristi housing pvt Ltd in Chennai central.